expert reaction to reports of closure of three wards at Leicester Royal Infirmary following H1N1 flu infections in some cancer patients

Dr John McCauley, Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Influenza, The Francis Crick Institute, said:

“H1N1 influenza viruses have evolved from the pandemic virus of 2009 and this virus now circulates as a seasonal influenza virus. It is a component of both the live attenuated influenza vaccine and the trivalent and quadrivalent influenza vaccines that are inactivated virus components. Public Health England carries out research into the effectiveness of these vaccines each year and these studies are on-going.